Shoot UK teacher, say protestersThousands of people have marched in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to call for UK teacher Gillian Gibbons to be shot.Mrs Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was jailed by a court on Thursday after children in her class named a teddy bear Muhammad.
She was sentenced to 15 days for insulting religion, and she will then be deported.
The Foreign Office was in contact with Sudan's government overnight and is due to repeat demands for her release.
'Kill her'
The marchers took to the streets after Friday prayers to denounce the sentence as too lenient.
The protesters gathered in Martyrs Square, outside the presidential palace in the capital, many of them carrying knives and sticks.
Marchers chanted "Shame, shame on the UK", "No tolerance - execution" and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad".
Hundreds of riot police were deployed but they did not break up the demonstration.
The Foreign Office said it was seeking more details about the protest.
'Strongest terms'
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been in touch with Mrs Gibbons' family for a second time, speaking to a close relative of the teacher.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has expressed "in the strongest terms" the UK's concern at her detention.
The Sudanese ambassador, Omer Siddig, was called back to the Foreign Office to explain the decision.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said he could not "see any justification" for the sentence, calling it an "absurdly disproportionate response" to a "minor cultural faux pas".The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis), which represents more than 90,000 Muslim students in the UK and Ireland, said it was "deeply concerned" at what was a "gravely disproportionate" verdict.
The federation's president, Ali Alhadithi, said: "What we have here is a case of cultural misunderstandings, and the delicacies of the matter demonstrate that it was not the intention of Gillian Gibbons to imply any offence against Islam or Muslims.
"We hope that the Sudanese authorities will take immediate action to secure a safe release for Gillian Gibbons."
In September, Mrs Gibbons allowed her class of primary school pupils to name the teddy bear Muhammad as part of a study of animals and their habitats.
The court heard that she was arrested on Sunday after another member of staff at Unity High School complained to the Ministry of Education.
11/30/07
Muslim Lynch Mob: "Kill Teacher"
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1 comment:
Execute a teacher for naming a Teddy Bear? Lashes for a rape victim? How are we of an American/European/Jewish/Christian culture suppose to deal with these governments/civilizations? Keep the citizenry separate and just have commercial contacts? There is no reasoning because their basic assumptions about life are in complete opposition to anything we take for granted. Are there moderates in their societies to talk to? I imagine there are but probably not enough and they are rightfully freightened that they and their families will be killed. Fortress America sound too Pat Buchanen-ish. Why would any Westerner want to go to Sudan, Saudi Arabia, et. al. except for commercial interests? It is insanity.
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